Vehicle data recording systems have been shown to be useful in a variety of applications for logging and communicating both operator and vehicle information to a centralized database. For example, vehicle data recording systems have been used to track operator driving times, trip times, and stopping times. Further, vehicle data recording systems have been used to record fuel efficiency on a trip by trip basis, engine parameters such as temperature, and other related vehicle information. The vehicle operating information may alternatively be used in a business delivery system to optimize parameters such as driver efficiency and performance and for tracking of deliveries made by a fleet of vehicles to various destinations.
Known vehicle data recording systems do not allow the vehicle operator to provide information about the vehicle condition to the data recording system. Therefore, this important operator information can not be communicated in a compressed form to a central data center and shared with support functions, such as a technical support group or maintenance service center. Further, known systems fail to enable a technical support group or maintenance service organization to analyze or diagnose a potential maintenance problem that might be apparent from these operator inputs. Without operator information, maintenance information or replacement parts may not be provided in an efficient manner. Furthermore, the known systems do not provide an effective means of sharing data center information from a remote location.
Accordingly, there is a need for an operator interactive apparatus and method for monitoring work vehicles that provides simplified input from a vehicle operator to a mobile communication device for communicating with a central data center. Further, there is a need for an operator interactive apparatus and method for monitoring work vehicles such that the operator information is communicated to a technical support group or maintenance service function. The technical support group or maintenance organization is then able to send repair parts or maintenance information directly to the operator or fleet manager. Further still, there is a need for an operator interactive apparatus and method for monitoring work vehicles that allows an operator or a fleet manager to access diagnostic and technical service information directly from a remote location.